Nathan MacKinnon put on a majestic display of offensive hockey Tuesday night.
His coach called it “pretty much as dominant of a performance as you can have in my books” … and then immediately began talking about MacKinnon’s defense.
Jared Bednar has seen his No. 1 center obliterate teams with his offensive prowess, but that wasn’t what truly stood out for him in a much-needed, get-right game against the Minnesota Wild that the Avs won 5-2.
“We didn’t talk anything about offense over the last couple days, so when I was watching Nate play, I was just watching how dialed in he was going to be on the defensive side of it, and he was dialed in,” Bednar said. “It’s important for your top guys to take the message that we’re selling to the team, and then lead by example in that, and he did that.”
The consistency and volume of MacKinnon’s production this season is what will fuel his candidacy for the Hart Memorial Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award — the NHL’s two most valuable player awards. His 51 goals and 137 points, the two 19-game point streaks and Colorado’s dominance when No. 29 is on the ice at 5-on-5 are the foundation of the argument.
Those highlight-reel goals, like the trio he produced Tuesday night, will certainly help as well. What probably won’t be as big of a deal to most voters, at least on the media side, is MacKinnon’s defense and leadership. The players, who vote for the Ted Lindsay, may factor some of the more intangible aspects of what makes MacKinnon great a little more, but even many of them will likely use the offensive criteria first and foremost.
MacKinnon is not going to be a Selke Trophy candidate as a top defensive forward, but that end of the ice does matter to him. And a night like Tuesday was a strong example. The Avs had back-to-back terrible games without the puck before it.
It became a focus against the Wild, and the Avalanche produced a suffocating effort at even strength.
“When you’re checking the puck back and the other team is trying to score on your end, when you check it back they’re in an offensive posture, generally not in a defensive posture, and when you’re checking it back quickly, you’re going to play with the puck more and be able to go on the attack more,” Bednar said. “It’s just that simple. We did a nice job (at) 5-on-5 tonight.
“I don’t want to give you a number, but it’s low, low, low. Lowest of the season, for sure, maybe lowest in the last five seasons (at) 5-on-5.”
The Avs played 45:32 at 5-on-5 against the Wild. They allowed, per Natural Stat Trick, six scoring chances and one high-danger chance. Minnesota created 0.51 expected goals at 5-on-5. These were all season-best numbers for the club, after just yielding three of the five-worst in the previous three games.
On a night when MacKinnon reached 50 goals for the first time, he and the Avs were also able to celebrate milestones for his buddy Jonathan Drouin as well. Drouin had three assists, including a beautiful setup on MacKinnon’s 50th.
Drouin now has career bests in assists (37) and points (56), with his top output in goals (21, set seven years ago) still within reach.
“He’s proved a lot of people wrong, I think,” MacKinnon said. “Just really happy for him. All the work he’s put in this season — he gets better every week, it seems like right now. It’s fun to watch him work every day.”
Drouin deserves a ton of credit for the work he has put in. He’s the Avs’ nominee for the Masterton Trophy in part because of how he’s shown his dedication and perseverance after his tenure in Montreal did not go the way he wanted.
But MacKinnon deserves at least a little bit of credit as well. The two old friends have pushed each other this season. They’ve rekindled their magic on the ice, and worked — often together — to both find new levels of success in the NHL.
His style of leadership, and the standard he sets for everyone with the Avalanche, is a critical part of the team’s success.
“His leadership doesn’t turn off,” Bednar said. “It’s every day, the way he approaches the game. All of our new guys are sort of blown away by it when they get here. It can be off-putting sometimes. But that is the way he is. One thing he is going to do is lead by example. All of his other strengths and weaknesses aside, if you want to learn how to be a good pro, that’s what you do. You just watch Nate.”
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